Assessors, such as insurance assessors, tax assessors, and various types of inspectors are typically required to personally examine one or more assets as part of a data collection process to assess value, condition, location, or existence of assets. In some instances individuals self-assess property, for example, to create a home or business inventory. Assessors typically use a collection of paper-based forms to gather the needed information and then submit the forms for manual entry into a computer system. Form or questionnaire-based data collection is a tedious and error prone process.
In a self-directed data collection process for insurance, customers may have to complete a series of fixed questions either with the assistance of an agent or through self-service software. Customers may have to choose from a series of predetermined answers that may or may not accurately reflect their situation. The limitations of this approach not only inhibit optimal data collection at the time of initial policy issuance, but can also reduce ongoing assessment of risk over the life of the policy or subsequent policies. Furthermore, relying on fixed questions can prohibit retrospective analysis of underwriting risk from a new perspective.